La Salle University
La Salle University Digital Commons
People and Places
La Salle Local History
1998
Frances Anne Kemble (1809-1893)
Natalie Karelis
La Salle University
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/people_places
Part of the American Material Culture Commons, Cultural History Commons, United States
History Commons, and the Women's History Commons
Recommended Citation
Karelis, Natalie, "Frances Anne Kemble (1809-1893)" (1998). People and Places. 4.
http://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/people_places/4
This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the La Salle Local History at La Salle University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for
inclusion in People and Places by an authorized administrator of La Salle University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected].
Belfield & Wakefield: A Link to La Salle's Past
Welcome
Frances Anne Kemble
Reports -- People By
Century
By: Natalie Karelis
Family Tree
Three Centuries on
South Campus
Home Where “The
Mansion” Was
The Remarkable
Wisters at Belfield
Charles Willson
Peale: “Your Garden
Must be a Museum”
Credits
La Salle Home
Connelly Library
Special Collections
A famous actress, an unfaithful husband, a controversial family
business, a messy divorce, and a brutal custody battle. These
seem to be all the characteristics of today’s tabloid news. But
maybe these components of a sensational news story aren’t so
modern after all. In fact, a situation fitting the above
description, involving actress Fanny Kemble (for whom Fanny
Kemble Park, located at Olney Avenue and 17th Street, is
named) and slave-holder Pierce Butler, actually occurred over
150 years ago on property adjacent to La Salle University!
Frances Anne Kemble was born into a theatrical family in
London, England, on November 27, 1809. Her roots in the
theater were well established at her birth, her aunt being the
renowned actress Sarah Siddons and her father, Charles
Kemble, the renowned Shakespearean actor. It was due to the
financial trouble of the Covent Garden Theatre in London, which was owned by her father, that
led her to acting in order to support her family. She made her theatrical debut as Juliet at age 19.
She is known for creating the role of Julia in Hunchback, which James Sheridan Knowles wrote
just for her.
In 1832, Fanny Kemble went on a theatrical tour of the United States from Boston to
Washington with her father and her aunt Miss Adelaide De Camp. She was instantly a huge
success in the States. She was copied and idolized by people everywhere. Young girls were
seen sporting "Fanny Kemble curls," and her likeness appeared on plates, saucers, scarves, and
other souvenirs. The theaters were packed every night of her performances. Miss Mary
Channing, then a student at a school near the Tremont House, where Fanny was staying,
remembers how all the school children were excited to see her go out for her daily horseback
ride.
Fanny was so popular that she had men follow her from city to city. The most devoted of these
men was Pierce Butler, who played the flute in her orchestra. He joined the Kemble family on
their vacation trip and showered Fanny with lavish gifts. Pierce was a wealthy slave holder who
inherited some of the largest and most productive plantations in the United States. Pierce’s
perseverance finally paid off when Fanny finally decided to accept his proposal. Her decision to
marry Pierce was influenced by much emotional stress in her life. For one thing, she was
separated from her family in Europe, and she felt much guilt in breaking her promise to her father
to tour the United States again. In addition, her beloved aunt, Adelaide De Camp, was in a
carriage accident and died after contracting an illness. Whatever the circumstances, Fanny
married Pierce Butler on June 7, 1834 at Christ’s Church in Philadelphia.
The bride was first taken to Walnut Street, which was the home of Pierce’s brother, John.
Pierce and Fanny then moved to Branchtown, or just above what is now Broad and Olney,
where they lived from 1835 to 1840. The farm where they resided was called Butler Place,
located at Old York Road and Thorp’s Lane. Butler Place proved to be a lonely place for her.
At first she took an interest in making the farm attractive, e.g. planting rows of maple trees,
gardens, etc. But eventually she isolated herself and had nothing to do with her neighbors. A
1922 newspaper clipping about Fanny states, "Nearly all local traditions allude to her haughty
demeanor and the scorn with which she regarded the people of her region." A famous story
about Fanny’s isolation from her neighbors involves the Reverend George Bringhurst, the rector
of the Episcopal House of Prayer in Branchtown. He called on Fanny, and she is said to have
received him "sitting behind a screen and remained in the position during his call."
Fanny Kemble Butler was definitely the talk of the town. A diary entry of Sidney George Fisher
dated April 19, 1840, states that Fanny was seen at Wakefield (home of William Logan Fisher,
Sydney’s uncle) riding horseback as she was always observed doing. An earlier diary entry talks
about the marriage of Fanny and Pierce where Fisher states that he doesn’t "like this custom of
introducing actors into society." Jones Wister mentions Fanny and Pierce in his Reminiscences.
Pierce was described as being a frequent visitor to Belfield. He loved the soup made from the
Mexican Black Beans that were raised in the gardens there. Fanny is also mentioned in Jones
Wister’s book. As a young boy, Wister saw her at Champlost, home of Mary Fox, Fanny’s
good friend. He didn’t like to eat there when Fanny was present because he thought her "too
elegant and awe-inspiring for words."
The marriage of Pierce and Fanny began to disintegrate during the first year due to a variety of
reasons. A major reason, which became evident in later years through Fanny’s publications, was
the rift between the slave-holding Pierce and the fierce abolitionist Fanny. Another reason
stemmed from Butler’s infidelities. He was said to be living with a slave woman during his visits
to his plantations in Georgia when unattended by Fanny. In addition, he had numerous affairs
with many different women. In fact, he reportedly participated in a duel with business partner
James Schott who said he caught Pierce in bed with Mrs. Schott. Finally, Pierce hired a
governess by the name of Miss Hall. She was described as having taken over everything in the
household except for the name of Mrs. Pierce Butler. In addition to these reasons, Fanny and
Pierce were not compatible intellectually or temperamentally. They had differing views on the
woman’s place in society--Pierce believed in submission while Fanny supported equal rights.
As the marriage weakened even more, Pierce used their two children, Sarah (b.1835) and
Fanny (b.1838), as weapons in his battles with Fanny. She was forbidden from caring for them,
talking to them, or any other kind of interaction with them. Miss Hall was given complete control
over the children. In addition, she was forbidden from talking to her friends Mr. and Mrs.
Sedgwick. Pierce tricked her into breaking this rule by presenting her with a letter from Mrs.
Sedgwick. Fanny assumed that she was granted permission to open the letter since Pierce
himself had given it to her, but Pierce seized the opportunity to say that she had disobeyed him.
After a series of estrangements, Fanny went back to England alone and returned to the stage to
support herself. In 1848, Pierce filed for divorce claiming that Fanny had "willfully, maliciously,
and without due cause deserted him" in 1845 when she went to England. Fanny at first denied
the desertion, then stated that the separation had been by mutual consent. Finally, she stated that
if desertion had indeed occurred, that it was justified by the insulting treatment of the libellant
(Pierce). Fanny produced a sixty-odd-page book called "Narrative" which was referred to the
Court as "a historical sketch of matrimonial discord." The court threw it out.
The divorce of Pierce Butler and Fanny Kemble was finally granted in 1849 because Fanny
failed to appear in court. The decision, made by Judge King, established a precedent on what
constituted such desertion in the state. It has since been referred to in hundreds of cases. After
the divorce, Fanny resumed her maiden name and returned to England. She was granted an
allowance of $1500 per year, the mortgage to Butler Place, and permission to have the children
two months in the summer. After the divorce in 1850, Pierce wrote "Mr. Butler’s Statement" in
response to Fanny’s earlier publication.
Fanny gave dramatic Shakespearean readings to support herself in both the United States and
England. Mrs. Sarah Tyler Boas (Mrs. John) Wister, daughter-in-law of William Wister, while in
London on a Grand Tour of Europe as a young bride, remembers hearing Fanny Kemble read
The Winter Tale. Fanny also published a number of memoirs as well as some poetry. She lived
in Lenox, MA in a cottage next to her friends Elizabeth and Charles Sedgwick for some time.
After her daughters were married, she lived periodically with each of them. She came back to
Philadelphia often after the divorce. On July 14, 1860, she came to see Owen Wister, who had
just been born. In the Autumn of 1872 she went with the Wister family to Rome for vacation. It
was during this particular trip to Rome where she met and befriended Henry James. The two
remained close friends throughout their lifetimes. James wrote that Fanny was "one of the
consolations of (his) life." After Pierce’s death in 1867, Fanny lived at Butler Place. In 1874, she
was living at York Farm on the Butler property.
After the divorce, Pierce’s gambling got him into trouble. He was forced to sell much of his
Philadelphia property and his share of his Georgia slaves in 1859. After losing much respect in
Philadelphia during the Civil War for his southern sympathies, he was arrested by U.S. Marshals
under suspicion of gunrunning for the Confederacy and later released on the condition of keeping
his southern sympathies quiet. After Lincoln’s death, he refused to drape his windows in black.
There was almost an attack on his house which was stopped by a gracious abolitionist Morris
Davis. Pierce contracted malaria in 1867 and died.
Fanny Butler is perhaps best known for her publications of her personal journals. She first
published the Journal of Frances Anne Butler in 1835, which was a scandal to the Butler
family. In 1838, she kept a journal when she went to the Georgia plantations owned by her
husband. She received a great deal of pressure from the Butler family not to publish the journal.
She finally did publish it in 1863, fourteen years after her divorce, entitling it Journal of A
Residence on A Georgian Plantation. She published it mostly to persuade her native England
not to support the Confederacy. The journal was written as a series of letters to Elizabeth
Sedgwick. She composed her journal in rough form while on the plantation, and then later
revised it. The journal makes a correlation between the gender-based oppression of slave
women and her own subjugation in the legal and social systems of the 19th century United
States.
Fanny and Pierce had two daughters, Frances Ann Butler Leigh (1838-1910) and Sarah Wister
(1835-1908). Frances Butler Leigh married the Reverend James Wentworth Leigh, the dean of
Hereford. Leigh was a British pro-slavery sympathizer and had a black face part in a Cambridge
minstrel show. Frances was much more sympathetic to the southern cause then her sister Sarah.
Sarah shared her mother’s views of slavery. She married Dr. Owen Jones Wister of
Germantown, an avowed abolitionist. Their son Owen wrote The Virginian. Interestingly
enough, Owen shared closer views regarding slavery with his grandfather, aunt, and uncle.
Butler Place, consisting of 83 acres, was sold in 1916 for $800,000. In 1925, Butler Place was
torn down to make room for 500 rowhouses. Fanny Kemble’s legacy can still be seen at the
oasis at Olney Avenue and 17th Street: Here is located Fanny Kemble Park. A plaque at the
entrance of the park describes Fanny’s abolitionism and her contributions to the cause. At the
age of 84, Frances Anne Kemble died in London on January 15, 1893, while being helped to
bed by her maid. In a letter to Fanny’s daughter, Sarah, Henry James wrote a tribute to his dear
friend. "She went when she could, at last, without a pang. She was very touching in her infirmity
all these last months--and yet with her wonderful air of smouldering embers under ashes, she
leaves a great image--a great memory."
Bibliography
Armstrong, Margaret. Fanny Kemble--A Passionate Victorian. New York: MacMillan
Company, 1938.
Butler, Frances Anne. Journal of Frances Anne Butler, Volumes 1 & 2. Philadelphia: Carey,
Lea, & Blanchard, 1835.
Edel, Leon. A Bibliography of Henry James. London: R. Hart-Davis, 1961
Fisher, Sidney George. A Philadelphia Perspective; The Diary of Sidney George Fisher
Covering the Years, 1834-1871. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1967
Freas, Phillip. Germantown newspaper clipping (?) about marriage. "Fanny Kemble File,"
Germantown Historical Society, 1915
Halsey, Margaret. Germantown Courier. Thursday, March 31, 1977.
Kelly, Linda. The Kemble Era: John Phillip Kemble, Sarah Siddons, and the London Stage.
New York: Random House, 1980.
Kemble, Frances A. and Frances Butler Leigh. Principles and Privileges. Ed. Dana Nelson.
University of Michigan Press, 1995
Kemble, Frances Anne. Further Records of Frances Anne Kemble 1848-1883. New York:
Henry Hott Company, 1891.
Wister, Frances Anne. "Fanny Kemble and Butler Place," Germantown Crier, Vol. 11, No. 2,
May 1959.
Wister, Jones. Reminiscences. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1920
Wright, Constance Fanny Kemble and the Lovely Land. New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co.,
1972
"Frances Anne Kemble" National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Volume 3, New York:
James T. White Co., 1967
Newspaper (?) Obituary of Frances Butler Leigh, 1910. "Fanny Kemble File," Germantown
Historical Society.
Newspaper clipping (?) about divorce case, 1922. "Fanny Kemble File," Germantown Historical
Society, 1922
Newspaper clipping (?) about selling of Butler Place, 1916. "Fanny Kemble File," Germantown
Historical Society, 1916